How to Create a Pop Sensation

1/24/2013 1:04PM

How does a pair of indie-rock darlings (and identical twin sisters) go from being a cult fascination to mainstream pop stars? WSJ's John Jurgensen joins Lunch Break with a look at how Tegan and Sara aim to join the likes of Gotye, Fun as crossover sensations. Photo: Lindsey Byrnes.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... oh ... he ... said ... you go from being a small market ingenious Opel darling into the mainstream pop star one seven identical twin sisters offers and road map ... I can think in any field John Jurgensen is here to report now ... the fact that I've never heard of the sisters may be ... the crux of the story that tells LaVette about them ... Tegan and Sara their names ... their identical twin sisters relief from Canada I mean they've been on the in the scene for more than a decade now ... aam ... and demand's when these groups of ... stars from of the folk group ... grew to more rock sound ... and while these groups that you know for many people if they end all be authenticated and people are obsessed with these two with the girls ... um what are the fuel as he said I've never heard of it is the sort of aam paradox of being ... a big band can sort of the rock to be a real niche area and this is a blessing curse that what the bean you have a loyal fan base you know who you are you know what kind of music you want to write but going bigger means you sometimes have to shift your complete ... attitude in making this trip ... I now get out of the and about having a baby in a race and being on the radio was ... actually pretty good yes there is said to me that dominance in secret she created to having the hormone shifts when you're thirty cents from one of the baby ... she had her thirties in some ways that they have achieved what I want to one of the on the radio I once ... read the next level of of commercial success ... and and when a wider range of audience ... aam and they think there's nothing wrong ... and why not go for and awareness was preceded the change of of some of their big into music and rice to go after this of this audience ... ahh and then they got some good advice from the chairman of their record company ... about a man Jeanine this new audience which I think the work for any body trying to to shift their ... their own careers ... I think this goes back to the very popular idea visualization what you want to achieve not just the sound of music you wanna make ... with the sound like but he's also talking to do things like imagine where they should be planning should be playing in the theater or in the Hesseldahl arena ... where the fans can lead to the tothe listening quietly and untimely or they would be jumping up and down up and ... so ... he wanted them to sort of write to tradition of of what they want to see out there ... and I think that's actually very different from what most cars that said most turns you know I follow the Arden song speaks to me ... um it's it's sometimes not ... Mr. kosher to admit they are you ready to on intensely Kenyan airlines even maybe not dumbing them down to just making the lyrics much more simple knot some of these these kind of ... analogies and metaphors and so forth ... I wonder though there's always an backlash in the last time fans who love you for that sound they make neocon to be like ... who are yet yet and that and Tegan Sara very aware of is happening there in a constant dialogue with the spans the Normandy these bands to come their shows and they've been trying to propel them for this next up there taking saying you know ... you bought this point ... because of you that with the deal would do this ... and they know they're not can whenever body over a few weeks whether you need to let people sort of grousing about this ... and they think that Sullivan have to do with the fact that you can to worry about losing them ... you know with your's TRC for it you know it's it's very intimate community right ... now with the share you with the world in an op radio announcer and ... magazines